The present invention is directed to the art of educational systems. It finds particular application in conjunction with interactive systems which control and facilitate the comprehension of a subject to a student user in dynamically changeable sequences, dynamically changeable knowledge levels, and dynamically customizable authoring of subjects to ensure an up-to-date status of material and will be described with particular reference thereto. It is to be appreciated, however, that the invention will also find application in other educational area in which information is to be presented to a student for comprehension and includes interconnection with directly or indirectly related subject matter.
A classroom typically includes a professor, a number of students and a selected textbook containing information that the students are attempting to learn. The professor verbally presents the information to the students in a lecture and uses visual aids such as a blackboard or projector when needed. The lecture is typically limited to a one or two hour time period thus requiring the professor to proceed at a continuous pace in order to cover the subject matter for the day.
Students experience a number of problems with the lecture-based form of education. For example, while trying to write down notes, the student fails to hear what is currently being said by the professor and consequently fails to make notes on the material which was not heard. The student may also fail to see a visual aid which is displayed but quickly removed. Information is missed due to the pace of the class and students are not given sufficient time for copying and personalizing notes as desired. The pace of the class also reduces the time students have to ponder and absorb what is being discussed and prohibits students from enhancing their notes by adding more information about their own understanding of what is being discussed. Overall, comprehension of the discussion is often far less than optimal.
Another problem exists in most lecture-based classrooms, namely each student has a different level of understanding based on past course work or experiences. Due to the limited time period of a lecture, a professor conducts the discussion at a fairly consistent pace. It is difficult, if not impossible, to accommodate each student's understanding of the discussed topic. For those students who understand the topic, the lecture pace is too slow causing a loss of interest. For those students who do not understand, the lecture pace is too fast causing confusion and eventually frustration. The selected textbook offers no solution for these students because it is written for one narrow range of knowledge. A different textbook must be found and consulted in order for a student to obtain background or elementary information for a selected topic. Likewise, a different textbook must be found and consulted if advanced information is desired. An alternative solution includes having the professor modify the lecture to include elementary or advanced topics to accommodate a particular group of students. However in doing so, the professor effectively amplifies the problems for the other student group.
The problem of students requiring access to a wide variety of knowledge levels for course work is especially apparent in the field of biomedical engineering. Educating biomedical engineering students presents a unique challenge to educators because these students are required to assimilate, interconnect and apply knowledge from many diverse disciplines. For example, knowledge requirements for biomedical engineers working on neural prostheses include electronics, electromagnetic fields, mechanics, materials science, neuroscience, electrochemistry, organ physiology and pathology. A similar list of subjects could be generated for tissue engineering, biomaterials, biomedical imaging and other biomedical engineering specialties. Unfortunately, very few students undertake this study with an adequate level of mastery in each subject area, and certainly, professionals trained in other disciplines will not be uniformly knowledgeable in all of these areas. Furthermore, the incorporation of all these fields mandates that information be drawn from experts in many areas and that advances in each field are continuously updated and distributed.
Another problem with educational environments which rely on printed materials as a source of information is that the printed materials become out-of-date even by the time they are published. Current discoveries are thus not readily available. Additionally, the printed material is permanent and cannot be modified or updated by a reader.
The present invention contemplates a new and improved customizable interactive textbook which overcomes the above-referenced problems and others.